I have been offered a good deal on a 2013 Mac Pro.

I have been given the choice of a 3.7Ghz Quad core version or a 3.0Ghz 8-Core. Ram is 32gb on both.

Is there much a difference between the two for just regular office Mac work (no video or audio production)?

Price is $300 - for either. Which one do I grab?

JPK

Both. Heck of a deal.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Which GPUs?

You may not be doing design, but there's GPU acceleration throughout the OS.

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Unsurprisingly, it looks like the 3.7 performs better at single core tasks and the 3.0 scores higher on multi core benchmarks.

Yup, if the GPU's are different, I'd go for the higher GPU. CPU's can be upgraded, and the upgrades are cheap, but it's a decent investment in time and nerves (depending on your comfort level). I did the CPU upgrades 4 times (twice on 2 different machines).

Prices have finally cratered recently on the trash cans. I was using mine until yesterday, when it decided to crash, so I figured I'd finally put the new Studio into use instead of rebooting the trash can. I held off because I greatly prefer Excel 2011, so we'll see how I do with Excel 202X...

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Gareth
Prices have finally cratered recently on the trash cans.

I forget, can you put a stock PCIe m.2 SSD in the trash can or do you need something special?

I third or fourth others' calls to get the better graphics as updating graphics on these old Mac Pros can be the priciest of the upgrades you might still want...

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g=

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gabester
I forget, can you put a stock PCIe m.2 SSD in the trash can or do you need something special?

You just need the typical Apple to M.2 adapter. You can even "fit" 3 SSDs with a special adapter from Amfeltec, but at this point, the 3x adapter probably costs more than the machine itself. I picked one up used, although some time after installing it, my bluetooth card died, which I wonder if that was heat related... At least replacement bluetooth cards are cheap and easy to replace.

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gabester
I third or fourth others' calls to get the better graphics as updating graphics on these old Mac Pros can be the priciest of the upgrades you might still want...

Yup, I ended up just buying a D500 machine and selling the D300 one to do a graphics "upgrade". Finding a matched pair of graphics cards to DIY an upgrade is practically impossible and not cost effective.

This is rarified atmosphere for me, and I have no business offering an opinion, in light of not being able to offer a learned one.

So here goes.

The the one with the better GPU.

You said it's for basic office stuff.

You won't need a Herculean CPU for that, and I don't think that Quad cores will make much difference, or how much help the .7 GHz would be.

And yes, I realize there might be more actual assistance in that CPU aside from the extra speed and cores.

But for 'office work', I don't think so, Tim.

More Studly Hardware (my porn name) in the GPU can always be a help.

Alluding to the mention earlier, most of us wouldn't be able to upgrade the GPU.

And me, I'd just want plug n play anyway.

I love the idea of a Trash Can Mac, just like having a Cube, and it's probably more useful, besides looking trick.

That would make $300 a steal for me.

Good luck with your choice, and let us know how it rolls.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Ok, in reading the whole thread, I see I'm just riding the coattails of others' recommendations.

But that's how I'd roll, given the breadth of august opinion and information.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I'll buy the one you don't want

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